A/N: I want to apologize for the severe lack of chapters the last week :( I try my best to put up notices on tumblr if I find myself unable to post a chapter and this was such an occasion. I returned from a doctor's appointment on the 3rd to find that, despite feeling we had resolved our issues with my writings, my parents had removed my computer from my room, entirely. My tower, keyboard, monitor, mouse, printer, everything was gone. They told me it was going to be locked away for a week and I should have gotten it back on the 10th but they decided I deserved 3 extra days because my brother had a 3-day race last weekend that I didn't go to. My sister was going down the shore for the weekend and I felt I needed to stay home to feed our puppies and let them out and take care of them because it was too late to find other accommodations or sitters for them. Because I missed the race, 3 more days without the computer :( My father just returned from work a short while ago and gave me my computer back so I immediately logged on and did probably the quickest edit of my life to get the chapters up lol.

I really am very sorry for the last week :( Unfortunately, because I was unable to access the internet during that time, I've had to reschedule when my stories will be posted for this year. I'll be updating my schedule on tumbler (Upcoming Stories) and I'm so sad to say that my Lord of the Rings (Aragorn/OC) story will have to be pushed to 2015 as a result, but I'll still be posting Big Bang Theory (Sheldon/OC), Doctor Who (Time Lady 5), and Star Wars (Anakin/OC) this year. But I've got my computer back now and I'm hopeful that this won't happen again :)

~8~

By Land or by Sea?

"I still do not understand where we are going," Piper remarked as she followed Rumpelstiltskin through the forests near his castle.

She was quite sure, wherever they were trying to go, they could have just magically transported themselves, but Rumpelstiltskin was being rather secretive about it and he seemed in a lively mood as they travelled across the forest floor. He seemed in a good mood though, apparently a recent deal had gone very, VERY well and he was rather excited for the prospect of coming to collect the payment owed to him. He was in the process of biding his time and waiting for the proper time to actually pop in and demand the payment promised. He was…if she didn't know better…almost giddy, he was giggling which he seemed to do when he was rather enjoying something or eager for something to occur.

"It's a surprise Pip," he called back, still leading the way.

Wherever it was she could tell that it was important to him that they travel this way. He was a very impatient man, contrary to how long he could wait for an opportune deal to come along, for how old he was. It was mostly his nature to be patient when the need called for it though and, in instances where he didn't need to be so patient, he would be the most impatient man in the world. The things that were important to him though, the things he wanted to get right in one go, he would wait to the ends of time to ensure it went well and was planned out. For him to be taking a longer route with her, to be leading her somewhere on foot meant that he didn't want to get to the end destination too quickly, that he wanted her to truly appreciate it when the destination arrived, to build up to it.

She could indulge him this.

"You and your surprises," she felt herself smile as she moved from behind him to beside him, "Have I ever told you that I love that very much about you?"

"Love what?" he glanced at her, though his own lips were quirked in a smile as well, "That I give you surprises? Not many people are fond of them you know."

"Well, partly," she conceded, "I do very much enjoy your surprises, however I was speaking of something else."

"What?"

"No matter the surprise," she began, "Or the secrets you keep from me…you always tell me them in the end."

He'd told her a…rather large one only a few short weeks ago, about her family, about his, about the Dark Curse he had spent the last decade trying to groom Regina to cast and what it would mean for all of them. It was, quite possibly, the largest secret that he'd ever kept from her, but he HAD told her about it, and that meant everything to her, that he trusted her with the knowledge. She knew he had been concerned about her reaction, that she would turn her back on him, or that she'd leave him, that she'd run off and try to stop Regina or warn her cousin…but she hadn't. For the last few weeks she had to admit…she wondered why that was. Her cousin was the last of her family, her only living blood-family, and she wasn't even attempting to warn her cousin about what was going on. She should have, the old her would have, the old her would have probably murdered Rumpelstiltskin to keep him giving Regina the curse, but…she understood now, she understood the Dark One more than any other could claim to. She understood his desperation and efforts to return to his son, to find his family, to protect him and make amends and just…be with his son again. She understood the desire to do anything you could to keep your family safe, to protect them, to know they were having a good life.

And…she trusted him. He swore to her that her family would be alright in the end, that they'd be stronger and happier, that they'd be together once more ALL of them, her family and his. She had to believe that they would be. She had held his heart in her hands, he had held hers in his, their love was true and bottled in proof, he had done everything in his power to protect her, gone out of his way to keep her safe and happy, she…she MATTERED to him. She had to trust that he would not do something that would ultimately harm her family or harm her in the process, he had done nothing but the opposite since they'd met. She trusted that he was telling her the truth and that her family would be safer and happier in the end. She trusted him just as he trusted her, the proof of his trust in her was hidden within her boot after all.

"And I always will Pip," he nodded, promising her that, "If I lie to everyone else, it will never be to you."

"I trust you," she murmured, just wanting him to know that.

Rumpelstiltskin blinked at that, he knew she did, but hearing it out loud was another thing entirely, "Thank you," he breathed, before giggling, "But that won't get me telling you where we're going dearie."

She shook her head at that, "It was worth a try," she told him, only half joking about what she'd said, she truly DID trust him.

"Which is just as well, we are…here!" he cheered as they came up a small hill, a faint breeze drifting to them through the leaves of the trees and bushes before them. He stepped forward and pushed one of the bushes aside, allowing her to see…the ocean on the other side. It wasn't the ports or the docks but a small beach connected to the sea.

Piper stood there, not entirely sure how to feel about where they were. She knew that it was natural to assume, as she was partially a Siren of the Sea, that the sea would feel like home to her, many people who knew of her parentage had felt the same when she had been growing up. But it wasn't quite…it. She may be part-Siren, but she was part-Human too and the human side of her had spent her entire life on land, had a family that was based in the land. She didn't feel the same pull that she knew her mother had felt for the sea, her mother had left her family and clan in the oceans while HER family was all on dry land. She had never met any of her mother's family, no Sirens. Her mother had actually forbidden her from going too close to the oceans and seas and waters.

And for a good reason.

Sirens who abandoned their clans were seen as traitors, betrayers, they were to be killed on sight if they ever dared try to return. Her mother could never return to the sea from the moment she left it in choosing her father over her family. She had feared that the same fate would befall her daughter as well, that if she got too close, ventured too far out, that the Sirens would sense her heritage and attack her. She had been forbidden from going into the ocean more than just up to her knees. She knew how to swim, her mother had still wanted her to learn if she was ever in such a situation, she had learned in a small pool in the castle grounds, more like a large fountain. But she had never actually been in the sea before, not in swimming, not in boating, she had been kept well away from it. It wasn't even that she was afraid of it, she was just more…precautious than others would be. Sirens, she knew better than most, could be vicious, cruel, unforgiving creatures. For as much love as they held for their families, their enemies were quite the opposite.

She didn't want to risk finding out what the Sirens would do to her if they ever found out about her or got her in their possession. The sea was also…uncomfortable to her as well, even just standing there it made her feel off kilter. For her magic coming from the sea, it was almost like the sea had the power to cancel it out. Well, not entirely. It was odd and difficult to explain but she had noticed that, at times, she had more difficulty sensing and hearing the songs of others when they were too close to the ocean. It was like the sounds of the waves and the magic of the sea could drown out the sounds of others. She had been ON ships before, in that sense she could hear better once she had been on something solid, like a boat. But it was like the area surrounding the ocean, the edges of it, made it just a little more muddled to hear, like trying to listen to anything underwater.

She was…quite the little traitor to half her people as well, it seemed. As was typical for Sirens, she disliked fire, was terrified of it actually, even more so now that she had fallen under the sleeping curse. But equally…she disliked the sea as well, she didn't see it as her home, she didn't feel this staggering and overwhelming connection to it that she knew Sirens were meant to feel. For so much of her life she had been focused on being human, to attempt even slightly to fit in with the other children. She'd given that up and, ever since Regina attacked her kingdom, she'd focused on her Siren half, she had been…so focused on her siren magic for so long that she almost felt detached from her human half, in a way. This was like a reminder of that, how uneasy she felt by the sea, that she wasn't just a part-Siren, she really was part-human. She knew that she lost part of that, with every betrayal, with every harm she suffered, she lost that little bit of her humanity when her heart hardened. But she should probably try, even slightly, to hold on to some semblance of humanity, for Snow White's sake. If the day came where she could ever see her cousin again, see as in be with her and have her cousin aware of her, she didn't want to be a stranger to Snow. She didn't want to be something her cousin couldn't recognize or feel comfortable around. Snow was the last of her blood-family and she didn't want to push her away like that. Right now she was choosing to remain away from her cousin, to keep her safe from Regina's hunt, but one day she did hope she might be able to spend time with her cousin again. When that day came, she didn't want them to be strangers like that.

"Do you like it?" Rumpelstiltskin's voice cut through her thoughts, pulling her attention to him. He was grinning at her so widely, as though he'd come to the end of a quest and needed to see if he would be rewarded for it, if he'd brought back the right treasure. He held up a hand, a swirl of magic poofing a small basket into existence, a small picnic basket.

She would have laughed at the sight, the Dark One in all his resplendent and intimidating glory…holding a picnic basket for her.

"I have never been to the beach before," she murmured, offering him a smile as well. She didn't want to lie to him and say that she loved this, it was truly a very thoughtful gesture and rather sweet coming from the Dark One, but she also didn't want to speak the full truth and tell him that the sea made her uneasy. Being on a ship or docks was one thing, they were above the water, there was solid footing beneath her, things that others would have to climb to reach her. But a beach? There was shifting sands and it connected directly to the water.

It was that, wasn't it, the water? Sirens of the Sea, of the Lakes as well, they had water based powers as well, they had to have them to rise from the waters, to manipulate them, to walk upon them. Their songs were based in the mind, their magic tied to it, but they LIVED in the waters, the waters were a part of them. When she had been younger she'd wondered why she didn't possess the same magic as she had seen her mother perform with water, a magic that had faded the longer her mother remained on dry land. It was because, her mother had told her, they did not live in the water, it was not as much a part of them as the other Sirens for they had chosen a life on land instead. Because of that, her mother's water-magic had faded and she had never developed any of her own. Being this close to the water put her on edge, the Sirens would be able to make the waters rise or to pull her in from a deep wave and…

She cut her thoughts off, there was nothing to say that there even were any Sirens there at the moment. Yes, they were at the edge of the sea but there was nothing that said that the Sirens had come so close to land that they would know she was there. Nothing at all. It would be best to just enjoy the picnic that Rumpelstiltskin had planned.

She felt herself grin at that. Who would have thought the words Rumpelstiltskin and Picnic would be used in the same sentence.

"Thank you," she turned to Rumpelstiltskin again.

He giggled and took her hand, the two of them heading down the small sandy hill and to the middle of the beach. She watched as he poofed a blanket down on the sand for them, a small tent, like a canopy being set up above the blanket to keep the strongest rays of the sun away, and sat beside him. The blanket had been set up just at the top of a small decline that led to the sea, the waves coming in a few feet away from their feet. It was low tide she could tell and that was reassuring, it helped keep her thoughts from drifting too much to the sea, she doubted they'd be there long enough for it to turn to high tide. And she could tell Rumpelstiltskin wasn't the sort to want to go swimming or get too wet so he'd probably wish them to leave by then as well.

This…wasn't quite what she was sure he'd wish to do with his time, have a picnic at the beach. If anything, if he truly desired a picnic, it would have been in the forest or courtyard of his castle, not the beach. It was just…a very odd picture, him sitting there in all his regalia but with the sand and sea are blowing around him. She knew he was only doing this because he thought she would enjoy it, it was best to not let him think his plannings and hopes were in vain. She did like it, in a way, she enjoyed any time she got to spend with him and to have him put this effort into trying to do something for her, well she wouldn't lie and say she wasn't touched by it.

She would enjoy this, she knew, she'd enjoy just being there with him even if she wasn't quite so keen about WHERE they were. So she turned and opened the picnic basket, curious to see what he'd brought for them.

~8~

Piper coughed violently as she landed on the cold, wet rocks, her entire body shaking from the chill of the water, her lungs protesting the lack of air and water she'd swallowed. That had NOT been a fun trip at all.

She should have seen it though, she should have noticed that the water on the beach, instead of gently lapping towards her and Rumpelstiltskin was not lapping any longer but had been merely steadily rising up and up and up towards their legs. But she had been distracted by him, they had been discussing their stories, how they first became the people they were, when she'd felt something suddenly grab her leg and was pulled right out of his hold and into the water. She hadn't seen that the sea had risen, that her boots were just barely in the edge of the water until a hand had grabbed her leg and pulled her into the water. It had dragged her down and down and down and she'd been struggling to get away from its grip. She'd barely managed to take a mouthful of air before she'd been pulled under, but it wasn't enough. She'd been forced to open her mouth and…had been surprised that she could breathe, even under the water, she was breathing.

It hurt now though, now that she was in a small underwater cavern, to breathe the air. It was like the water hadn't been converted to air inside her, but she'd been breathing the air that existed in it. It still meant there was water getting into her though and now she was trying to cough it all up. The cavern was like a small pocket of air though, actual air with water pooled around her waist, rocks scattered everywhere and along the edge of the cavern.

"We have been waiting for you a very long time," a sultry voice spoke from above her, or what she was sure was meant to be sultry but right now she could hardly hear anything over the sounds of her violent coughing.

Her hands curled into fists as she tried to get the last of the water that was choking her out of her, gasping for breath, feeling tears in her eyes as she managed to look up and see where she was, who had taken her.

Sirens.

There were three Sirens before her, Sirens of the Sea she could tell. They all shared the same pale hair, dark eyes, pale skin, staring at her with their clothes that appeared made of fishing nets and seaweed and shells of all sorts. She let out a shuddering breath and forced herself to stand on the small rock she'd been dragged up on top of. She could see one of the Sirens pulling themselves up beside the other two, clearly the one that had taken her from Rumpelstiltskin. She swallowed hard, trying to keep her shaking down, trying to play it off as more a chill from the frigid water than that she was truly frightened of being there.

Her mother had warned her of this, THIS had been what she had been so worried would happen if she got too close to the sea. The Sirens were unforgiving, and they would want retribution on her mother through her daughter. She had suspected how she'd gotten there, she and her mother had discovered a small useful part of information when she'd been younger, when her mother had been more closely tied to the sea. When a Siren held her, took her underwater, she could breathe as though she were a Siren or Mermaid or underwater creature. She'd thought that it had faded over time, as her mother became less of the sea she'd been unable to breathe underwater while her mother held her hand. She'd thought it was just a trait she'd grown out of, but it appeared it was just her mother's magic that had faded with time.

She swallowed hard, panting as she looked around at the three Sirens, "What do you want with me?" she asked, trying to remain firm, trying not to show any sort of fear or back down from them.

Sirens were not much for emotion, often appearing as harsh and unfeeling as the sea to outsiders, if she wanted even a chance of escaping this alive, she would have to appear as much like them as she could muster, appearing as cold and aloof as they were. Her hand immediately flew to her neck at the thought of escape and it took all she had not to let out a visible sigh of relief at feeling the small purple powder in the small vial still on her necklace. She would have a way to get to Rumpelstiltskin right now if she chose to, but…she wanted to know what the Sirens wanted. Surely if they meant to kill her she would be dead already, there would be no reason to keep her alive, to bring her there.

There had to be something else going on.

The Siren in the middle looked at her intently, studying her with a critical eye, "I see the features of my niece in you."

Piper's eyes narrowed at the middle Siren, realizing she must have been her mother's aunt from that remark, she looked younger than her mother had, but then again, Sirens were meant to have longevity. Her mother had relinquished that to tie her heart and life to her father's, she had become more mortal as a result.

She said nothing though, not about to risk saying something to incite the Sirens. At the moment the woman who had been her mother's aunt didn't appear about to avenge the betrayal her mother had put upon her family, but she didn't want to say anything that would change that. She needed to know what they wanted from her.

"Yet you look more like us than the landwalkers," the third Siren, the one that had taken her, spoke, "Interesting."

"You hold yourself like us," the second agreed, "You appear as though one of us…yet you are not."

Piper bit her tongue to not remind them she was only half them, to do so, she was sure, would mean reminding them that her mother had turned her back on them and chosen a human, a landwalker, over them.

"But you are so like the landwalkers," the middle siren sighed, "A waste of our magic, of our legacy. Halfbreeds," she sneered that last word, eyeing her even more critically.

"Then why bring me here?" Piper challenged, "If I am so deplorable, why not cleanse the lineage?"

That was…NOT what she should have said, she realized, to nearly challenge them to try it, to try and harm her or end her. Not quite her most shining moment, but she had to admit that she WAS curious. Why, if they were so against her existence, did they not just kill her or drown her on the way down? Surely they could control their magic, they could MAKE her drown, could have let her go or tied rocks to her or anything…yet she was here, standing before them.

"My niece…" the middle Siren began, making Piper eye her this time, she continued to call her mother 'niece' yet it should be within a Siren's culture to cast someone like her mother out, to not consider them family ever again. Perhaps the bonds of family were stronger than she imagined, her mother never really spoke much of what it meant to leave the Sirens, "She is dead, is she not?"

Piper's lips pursed, "She is."

The three Sirens closed their eyes and bowed their heads a moment, their hands clasped before themselves in what appeared to be silent mourning, before the middle Siren looked up once more, "Then her soul has returned to the sea."

"The sea welcomes her home," the two other Sirens murmured.

Piper looked between them, unfamiliar with this custom or belief. Her mother truly had tried to forget all about the life she was leaving behind. She had only truly imparted knowledge to HER when it was needed, when she was encountering something that could only be explained by being part Siren, other than that she knew her mother tried not to speak of it much. It…hurt her too much to think of the family that would never accept her back, unless in death it seemed.

"If you have her soul, what need have you with me?" Piper asked, not entirely sure what this meant now.

"As she was given a choice, so now must you," the middle Siren explained, staring her down, "We have been waiting a very long time to acquire you."

Piper's lips pursed more at that term, 'acquire' like she was some prize or possession to be taken, "And what choice is this?"

"You may…remain," she spoke, though Piper could see how the two other Sirens glanced at the middle one in unease, clearly this offer was not one that would be widely accepted.

"Remain?" Piper shook her head, "What, here?"

"Yes," the middle Siren lifted her chin, "Your mother has returned to us, and so may you."

"And if she had not returned, you would kill me."

"Yes."

It wasn't a question, it wasn't one that needed an answer, yet she'd gotten one regardless.

"You remain here," the Siren gestured around, "Become one of us."

Piper squared her shoulders at that, understanding what that meant. It was just like with her mother, the more time she spent away from the sea, the more she became like a mortal on land, lost her water-based powers, lost what made her a Siren. If her mother had been able to return without pain of death, she would have been able to become more Siren-like once more, the more she was in the sea, the longer she was in it, the more like a Siren she'd be. It was the same with HER, it appeared, or at least the Sirens seemed to think so. If she stayed there, she would eventually become more and more Siren-like, more so than she already was.

She closed her eyes at that, realizing that it was just like she'd realized at the beach's edge. She had spent so much time trying to be human-like, then lost parts of her humanity to become more Siren-like…something she had only just resolved not to let herself succumb to. She didn't want to be entirely Siren, she didn't want to be entirely human either, she wanted to be both, whatever strengths and weaknesses would come from it. She didn't want to lose that part of her that was her father, that was her cousin, her humanity, she didn't want to be like the women before her. She was half human, she would never be full-Siren, she didn't want to be either.

"My life is on land," Piper stated, opening her eyes.

"Your family is in the sea," the Siren argued.

"You just admitted that, had my mother not passed, you would kill me," Piper narrowed her eyes, her hand curling around the vial at her neck more tightly, "That is not family. That is not MY family. My family, my life, my love, are on land and THAT is where I shall remain."

"You would turn your back on us?" the third Siren hissed, starting to glare at her.

"Just like your ungrateful mother!" the second sneered.

But the middle Siren held up her hand, "You have made your choice."

Again, it wasn't a question, not one that needed an answer for the answer was all too clear, but Piper nodded anyway, "I have. And it will never be YOU."

She knew that last dig would be the one that did it, that pushed the Sirens over the edge. Just standing before them, she knew, was already clawing at them, at their patience with her, they wanted her there no more than she wanted to be there and she knew that last remark, the true and utter denial of that half of her family would be the last straw. But she wanted to be clear, she wanted them to never attempt this again, this was NOT her home nor were they her family.

So she grabbed the vial and pulled it off the chain, smashing it on the rocks below her as the Sirens lunged at her, hissing, but she disappeared in a swirl of purple before they could reach her, appearing back on the beach, just behind Rumpelstiltskin who was hurling fireballs at the sea only for them to bounce off what appeared to be a blue wall of energy that sprang up when the fireballs connected to it.

"You give her BACK to me!" he was snarling at the sea as he hurled ball after ball at it, the collective Siren magic, the age old magic of the sea, holding him back for the moment.

"Rummy," she called and he spun around, was at her side in an instant, the moment he saw her standing there.

"Pip," he breathed, holding her tightly to him as she returned the embrace just as tight. He gripped her even closer when he felt her shaking against him, something he knew she wouldn't want commentary on or to be asked about, whatever the Sirens had done had shaken her.

"I want to go home," she murmured against him.

He nodded, not even bothering to gather their supplies or objects, just waving his hand and allowing them to disappear in a swirl of magic, taking them back to the Dark Castle. He could guess what had happened, why the Sirens would want her, why she would still be alive and why they hadn't killed her outright. And the fact that she had said home, their home, THIS home, on land…with him…he just held her closer as they appeared in their bedroom, thanking the gods and all the magic in the world that Piper had chosen him, chosen to stay.

…and if he vowed to spend the rest of his life studying Sirens and how to counter their magic (perhaps kill them) well, that would only be fair.

They DID try to take his true love from him, he would take their lives from them if he had to, if it was to protect her, anything to protect Piper.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter :) I wanted to explore the sort of Siren-half of Piper's heritage and show just how important Snow and Rumple are to Piper, that she would give up her mother's half of the family to stay on land with them :')

Again, I am SO sorry there were no chapters :'( But I'm back now, I'm definitely back ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Oh Piper will be quite vocal when she sees Neal again about what he did ;) I kind of like how Piper's a little hypocritical, because I think we all are in a way and it's a fault for all of us. She'll have no issue smacking other people with things to knock them out, but if they do the same to her she has a problem with it. It's sort of like people (like my dad lol) who can joke around with other people and play tricks on them, but the second you do it to them they flip out ;)

I really do love the idea of Neal and Emma together (I can say that my Hook/OC will see SwanFire as a result ;)) I feel like, if they'd had time to get to Tallahassee, and to just grow as people together instead of thieves together, they'd be magical :) I think Neal has trouble trusting Piper because children freely give their trust, or at least more than adults do, and he knows Piper more as Snow's cousin where all Neal sees her as is the Dark One's true love :( I think Neal was shocked because his father wouldn't give up his magic for his own son, to see him giving the dagger to someone and it meaning that they have complete control over him and his magic is more than he can comprehend. Like it's one thing if it's your son, it's another that a strange woman he's only met a few days ago had that same trust. Neal has only known her a few weeks, his father has for decades, I think he just needs a little more time with Piper ;)

That's cool :) I mostly feel Rumbelle aren't true loves due to the nature of their relationship. Like, Gold was rather abusive to Belle at first and later lies all the time to her and he only acts 'good' when he's forced to upon threat from Belle. Belle is too...soft(? if that's the right word) as in she tries to discipline him but flip flops and instantly forgives him. She doesn't hold firm to her convictions when it comes to Gold and I feel like she's trying to change him more than accept him for who he is like...she guilts him and threatens to leave him if he doesn't 'change' or 'do good' and that doesn't really scream true love to me, Gold strikes me as more indulging Belle and making her believe he's trying when he really doesn't care. Like I look at Robin and Regina, he accepts her darkness and he doesn't actively try to change who she is :) As for Neal and Emma, I think they could have been true love if they had been together longer, if they had been able to bond more and really settle down in Tallahassee. I feel like, if Neal truly did love Emma, he would have fought for her, he would have sucked up his dislike of his father and gone with Emma to break the curse, he would have stood by her side. Who better to get her to believe than Baelfire? :) I feel like he gave her up too easily, he even said if he knew she was ok he'd be able to move on from her which doesn't strike me as true love, when you look at something like Snowing and how they fought for each other and how neither could move on from the other (going so far as to break their heart in half to stay with them). In terms of the examples of true love in the show, like with Snowing and even Phillip/Aurora, I don't see the same signs of true love in Rumbelle and SwanFire as I do when I think of how true love is represented as being :) I get the struggling and mistakes, definitely, but I feel ike if they really had true love their reactions to the struggles and mistakes would have been different and proven their true love ;) If Rumple truly loved Belle, he'd have allowed her attempt at True Love's Kiss to break his Dark One curse, but it's sort of my own little opinion that you can truly love someone even if they don't love you back, so, in that sense, TLK could work even if Rumple didn't love Belle back as long as she felt true love for him :)

I've actually got it up on my profile that I do plan to do an Arrow (Oliver/OC) story ;) It's definitely a future story, I just can't say when exactly, but it WILL be coming ;)